


Feminine Pursuits

by orphan_account



Category: Free!
Genre: Body Image, F/F, Fem!Makoto, Female Nanase Haruka, Female Tachibana Makoto, Female-Centric, Femslash, fem!Haru, fem!free
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-05
Updated: 2014-08-05
Packaged: 2018-02-11 22:10:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2085024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tachibana Mamoru, taller and broader and more muscular than most of her teammates, is pretty sure that as far as attractiveness goes, she might be a six on a good day. Her best friend, Nanase Hiro, is having none of it.</p><p>That may or may not be because Hiro might want to make Mamoru more than just her best friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Feminine Pursuits

**Author's Note:**

> Hiro = fem!Haruka  
> Mamoru = fem!Makoto  
> Natsume = fem!Nagisa  
> Rai = fem!Rei
> 
> I always got the impression that fem Makoto would probably be pretty masculine looking still, and more muscular than most of her teammates, and she'd probably have a bit of a complex about it, especially since fem Haruka would probably be traditionally beautiful with that long, pretty black hair.

—

If Mamoru was anything, it was strong. And yet, strong as she was, there was a gentleness to each of her actions, and if Hiro didn’t know better, she would have assumed it was natural.

But it wasn’t.

The kindness to her was part of her personality, and Hiro knew that often times she actually couldn’t help but shower others with sweetness and generosity and praise and encouraging words. But for her actual movements, the way she walked, spoke, ate, sat…

The gentleness was usually forced.

Hiro probably would never have noticed, either, if it weren’t for seeing Mamoru slip up every now and again. And she probably wouldn’t have noticed that they were slip-ups if Mamoru didn’t turn a bright red each and every time she made a mistake in her ‘demeanor.’

For example, finding her exhausted after practice, when she was sitting comfortably—as in, legs sprawled out in different timezones as she slumped forward between them, shoulders relaxed and let out to the sides.

The minute Hiro walked in, however, Mamoru suddenly sat up and crossed her legs and pulled her arms in so that her shoulders didn’t look as broad. And if that wasn’t enough, her cheeks turned rather pink and her greeting ended up stammered out rather than in her usual, smooth tone.

Hiro didn’t say anything. Instead, she filed away the memory under ‘mysteries’ and held out a hand, signaling that it was time to go home.

Another example, when Mamoru brought her lunch and, being particularly hungry, was unhesitant about eating quickly and a bit more messy than usual. Natsume, however, picked up on it and cheerfully moved over to pluck a forkful of rice and of sushi off her plate. Before Mamoru could protest, though, Natsume winked at her and downed it, then (with her mouth full, no less) said, “It’s good to see Mamoru acting like one of the guys, finally!”

And naturally Mamoru pulled her lunch back closer and tried to play it off, but there was a flush to her cheeks again, and Hiro ended up thwacking the side of Natsume’s head. She didn’t know why she did it, technically, but Natsume had made Mamoru feel embarrassed, and as far as the dark haired girl was concerned, that was unforgiveable.

The third time was when it was really obvious, though, and it’s what prompted Hiro to try to figure out how to confront the situation.

Hiro and Mamoru had been relaxing at Hiro’s home, each simply relaxing, with Hiro in the tub and Mamoru in the living room, reading.  
When Hiro left the tub a little earlier than usual, though, she came in to find her reading, and before she even got to look at the cover of the book, Mamoru had stammered and turned red and put the book away. Naturally it just drew more attention to what she’d been reading in the first place, and it made Hiro curious enough to find out what, exactly, Mamoru had been reading.

She got her chance when Mamoru was getting ready for bed later, and admittedly Hiro hadn’t been sure what the big deal was when she first saw the title.

It was ‘Top Ten Ways to Improve Your Femininty,’ but after a minute or two of thinking on it, Hiro figured it out, and she couldn’t help but sigh as she put the book back in place so Mamoru wouldn’t know she’d disturbed it.

However, she’d have to deal with it on a day that wasn’t today or tomorrow, or else Mamoru would figure things out too easily.

—

After she knew what insecurities Mamoru had been hiding, it was hard for Hiro not to notice. A few harmless (if odd) quirks to Mamoru were becoming less harmless, as far as Hiro was concerned, because they were part of the proof that Mamoru was feeling insecure about herself.

The nailpolish and makeup that her friend had been collecting recently, for example. Before, she hadn’t cared a lick about the color or quality of her nails, but recently she hadn’t gone more than a day or two without a new color or a repaired color. Before, she’d never wanted to line her eyelids or put mascara on, but now she was coming to school and even to practice with at least that much. (Waterproof, probably, since she looked about the same before practice as after.) Before, she hadn’t been very concerned with how her clothes fit, or how much she should cover, but now she was wearing thicker clothing, despite it warming up for the season.

The last one was especially concerning, considering Mamoru had been pink from heat yesterday walking home from school and had refused to take her jacket off.

Hiro promised herself, after considering the evidence, that if it got worse she’d confront Mamoru immediately.

—

It got worse.

As the weather changed for the warmer, Mamoru only slightly lessened the layers she was wearing, and one afternoon during lunch after a summer-practice session, her face was a rather bright pink from the heat, and there was a glistening of sweat on her forehead. Yet, she refused to take off her outermost jacket. (And Hiro knew it was a refusal, because she’d sent slight glares her way for the last five minutes, glancing at the jacket and at her, but Mamoru had shook her head ever so slightly and pulled it tighter around her.)

Natsume was the first to verbally protest. “Mamoruuu,” she started, sidling up next to her and tugging on the bottom of her jacket. “Are you wearing a naughty shirt or something? Your boobs look great! Even if your shirt’s a little tight or low-cut, you don’t have to worry.” Almost conspiratorily, she added, in a low whisper next to her ear that Hiro only just caught, “I bet you’d make at least three guys turn their heads this way if you took it off~!”

Knowing very well that Mamoru was probably the most obvious lesbian of them all, she nudged Natsume away. “Stop that. She’ll take it off when she’s ready,” she started, then remembered that her position was actually Natsume’s, and backpedaled. “She’s ready now, though. Take it off.”

Mamoru balked at the sudden tag-teaming. “I don’t want to take it off! It’s a little chilly today, don’t you think?” she asked quickly, face heating up from embarrassment as much as overheatedness.

Though she’d been quiet before, calmly observing it all, Rai piped up now. “If you’re cold in this heat, then you’re probably sick. If that’s the case, though,” she started, examining her, “Then you should take off the jacket so you don’t become feverish.”

After she’d said it, Rai looked almost like she regretted it, because it gave Natsume an excuse to lean over and press her hand against Mamoru’s forehead, seeming to wonder for a moment, before she abruptly pulled her hand back. “Wow, you’re sweating a lot. Just take off your jacket! Even if you’re, like, not wearing a shirt it’d be fine. This could turn into a medical emergency or something, couldn’t it?”

Rai looked hesitant but ended up nodding before calmly crossing over next to Mamoru. “I… agree. Slightly. Things could potentially get bad if you overheat. So please, choose the rational path here, Mamoru.”

Throughout all this, Mamoru had been getting progressively jumpier, though she had the common sense not to actually run away, though Hiro was getting a ‘twitchy rabbit’ vibe more than her normal, proud, mothering orca vibe. It was concerning, to say the least, so finally Hiro moved to sit in front of her, placing her hands on Mamoru’s knees. “Take it off.”

It was still several minutes before the bell would ring, so Mamoru had no way out, really, and finally she complied, though she certainly didn’t look happy as she undressed from her jacket.

Underneath, she was wearing a perfectly ordinary shirt—not low-cut, not tight, not sheer. It was Mamoru’s standard summer-wear, and there didn’t appear to be anything out of the ordinary except for the sweat stains she had from nearly overheating.

The sudden cool seemed to have relaxed Mamoru more than she wanted to admit, because her posture had relaxed abruptly for one blessed moment before she’d shrunk back in on herself, shoulders and arms tucked in and pressed tightly against her sides.

Hiro found it disconcerting now that she understood the reasoning behind it.

Without so much as an excuse for Rai and Natsume, Hiro stood and pulled Mamoru up with her, leading her into the changing rooms. It seemed the other pair didn’t mind, because Natsume just waved and laughed and probably suggested that they do something lewd and involved shedding clothes to ‘cool Mamo-chan down more!’

Once they were inside the room, though, Hiro simply sat Mamoru down. “It’s cooler in here. Don’t put the jacket back on—you still need to cool down.”

Mamoru, who didn’t even have her jacket with her anymore, simply looked at her with an almost puzzled expression. “…I won’t,” she said simply, looking away. A guilty expression flickered across her face before she attempted to swallow it back down. It didn’t work, and soon she was wearing it more prominently than ever, her teeth worrying her bottom lip. “Did you pull me in here just to cool down, or…?”

Hiro shot her a look that said very clearly, ‘You’re not going to skip out on this lecture. Stay seated.’

Mamoru stayed seated.

"I saw the book you were reading two weeks ago," Hiro said without prelude. "You’re worried about wanting to be more feminine?"

The words had the desired effect, and though Mamoru didnt verbally confirm it, the way she found sudden interest in picking at her nails spoke volumes. Her waterproof mascara-clad eyelashes batted away prospective tears, and finally she just glanced away, as if assuming that it would make it less obvious that she was upset.

"I don’t understand why you’re getting embarrassed about your body." Hiro looked her up and down, examining her muscles. "Most girls would love to look as strong as you do."

"Maybe Western girls," Mamoru mumbled before she could stop herself. "But… Aren’t I supposed to look … small? Petite?"

Hiro gave her a calm, calculated glance over. “You cant do anything about your height, or the width or your shoulders.”

Her head dipped, and she looked more embarrassed than before. “But I can try other things…”

"You shouldn’t be embarrassed in the first place," Hiro said. "If you want to wear more feminine things, or put on makeup or nail polish, there’s nothing wrong with that. But when it comes to your actual body—your height, your build, your muscles that are so important for swimming… That’s worrying."

Mamoru seemed to understand that, at least, and sighed. “Sorry.”

Hiro frowned and shook her head. “Don’t apologize to me. It’s your own body you’ve been mean to. Stop scrunching your shoulders in. It’s bad for them and it’s bound to give you knots in your shoulders and upper back.”

Mamoru looked to have another apology on the tip of her tongue that she just barely managed to keep at bay. Hiro decided to switch methods.

"You like girls, don’t you?" Hiro asked after a moment, shifting to sit behind Mamoru. She was pretty sure the taller girl had knots in her shoulders already, and it would be good to get them out before they got worse, as bad habits were hard to kick and she’d probably keep scrunching her shoulders in, even if it was accidental.

It seemed almost too much for her, between the question and the rather intimate contact behind her. But after she realized Hiro was (probably?) just being friendly, she relaxed. “Yeah, but I don’t see how that relates…”

Hiro worked into the knots with her long, slender, almost artistic fingers. “When you like a girl, you like her because you think she’s cute, or pretty, or attractive. Do you think skinny girls are pretty, even though they don’t have feminine hips or breasts?”

Mamoru looked almost offended that she’d even asked. “Of course! They’re beautiful because they’re girls, not because—”

"And you think chubbier girls are pretty, even though they don’t have hourglass figures?" Hiro continued, tone flat as ever, though it was obvious she was going somewhere with this.

"What do you take me for? I’m not that shallow. The quality of the girl lies in that she’s a girl, not—"

"And you think curvy girls are pretty, then, and short girls, and tall girls, and girls that can pick you up and girls that get winded after running short distances, and flexible girls, and unflexible girls, and girls with short hair and long hair and everything inbetween?"

"Well, if you put it that way it sounds like I’m attracted to any girl just because she’s a girl. I like girls because they’re a girl I like, not because they’re just a girl, but… Yes, that’s right." Mamoru turned her head and shoulders to look at Hiro, seeming confused. "Why?"

"Then you like muscular girls, too, don’t you?" Hiro looked up at her, moving her hands to rest it on Mamoru’s strong shoulders.

Mamoru nodded, biting the inside of her cheek. “Well, yes, but…”

"But nothing. If you like muscular girls, then other girls will like you for the same reasons you like other girls, no matter their appearance. It’s much the same with guys who like girls. Do you understand?"

It got quiet between them for a moment, and finally Mamoru shifted to look properly at Hiro. “Oh,” she finally said, voice a little more subdued than usual.

Hiro nodded, sure that Mamoru understood now. “Oh is right. Please don’t feel you need to change for anyone, okay?” She took Mamoru’s hand in her own, examining the brightly painted nails. Though she didn’t say it aloud, she seemed to be saying, ‘This, too. You don’t have to change your nails or make-up for anyone, if you don’t want to.’

Finally Mamoru shifted and, while hugging wasn’t very common in Japanese culture, she felt the need to at least wrap her arm around her. “Thank you.”

Hiro nodded again and after a while stood, offering a hand to her. “You still need to finish your lunch. And we’re going swimming again later. You weren’t trying very hard this practice, and the captain needs to be at the top of her game.”

Mamoru smiled at her and accepted her hand, not yet letting go of it. “Of course,” she agreed. And even if her tone was still a little more subdued, and even if she wasn’t feeling completely up to her usual self, it was enough progress that Hiro could accept it and be glad for it.

However, there was still one thing that the darker-haired girl felt the need to do.

"Please remember, too, that girls of any sort can fall for you. Even if you were incredibly unattractive—and you’re not, which isn’t fair—you’re kind enough that almost anyone would want to be with you. Girls that get scared at spiders are endearing, and people instinctively want to protect them." Seeing that she wasn’t getting her point across very well, she cleared her through, looked away, and continued. "Even if you don’t think it counts for much, you’re brave for swimming even after having a fear of water. And it… it makes people respect you a lot. You’re amazing."

It was rare that Hiro would speak so much in one day, and Mamoru found this to be an interesting reversal because now she found she was at a complete loss for words.

Hiro noticed that, and stepped closer, tugging her friend down by the collar of her shirt. “Anyone can fall for a girl like that. Even… me.”

And she kissed her.

Mamoru, to her credit, was only too shocked to move for a few seconds before she shifted forward. One hand moved to rest on Hiro’s lower back, and the other moved up to the base of her head, where soft baby hairs started before, just a bit up, turning into the long, silky black hair Mamoru had been dying to touch and run her fingers through for the last several years.

She got her wish, and Hiro didn’t push her away even after she started to comb her fingers through. If anything, Hiro appreciated it, and kissed her just a bit firmer in retaliation, her hands shifting over her back, her hips, her softer sides. Hiro’s hands seemed to be constantly in motion, and though Mamoru felt a bit self conscious of being so thoroughly explored, she couldn’t say that she minded.

As swimmers, they could hold their breaths for a while, but they did have to pull away eventually. “Does this mean…”

"I want you to be my girlfriend," Hiro confirmed, nodding at her. "And I don’t care if you wear dresses on dates or wear nail polish or make-up. You’re strong and sweet and most importantly mine. Please don’t change anything."

Mamoru pulled away and pulled a hand up to her mouth, muffling her laughter. And though Hiro glared at her a little for laughing, it was still good to see and hear her best friend—girlfriend—laughing. “Thank you, Hiro-chan. I’d love to be your girlfriend. You’ve always been my most important person. I’m glad we can do this now.” She held a hand out to her and when Hiro took it, she laced their fingers together and leaned forward for a brief kiss. “We should probably go back outside. I’m cooled down now.”

Hiro nodded, leading her out, and when she spotted the jacket still lying in the grass, she wrinkled her nose. “I’m getting rid of that jacket until winter, just so you know.”

Even though she rolled her eyes, Mamoru didn’t protest, instead just kissing her lightly on the top of her head. “Whatever you’d like.”

Hiro moved almost possessively closer and nodded, using her opposite hand to trace up and down Mamoru’s strong back. “And I like things like this,” she said simply, obviously referring to Mamoru showing herself off rather than hiding herself away.

"And things can be like this," Mamoru agreed softly, kissing her once more before pulling away and walking forward back to where Rai and Natsume were waiting.

\--

End


End file.
